What's happening in sport? Five things to know

Former NBA star John Amaechi says sporting organizations have been guilty of "purposeful amnesia" in ignoring the way...

Posted: Jan. 18, 2018 9:58 AM

Updated: Jan. 18, 2018 7:01 PM

Former NBA star John Amaechi says sporting organizations have been guilty of "purposeful amnesia" in ignoring the way some leading coaches have abused and exploited young athletes they worked with.

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"While there are sophisticated predators out there, I maintain that most of the fault here is actually organizations that have purposeful amnesia," Amaechi told CNN's World Sport.

"They see something and immediately forget it ... and they do the thing that many of us do. A lot of cultural problems can be aligned to, like, littering, which seems odd.

"Most of us when we see a small piece of litter, our instinct is not to pick it up because we think it's not our problem, it's not our fault -- it's not that big of a deal.

"So we leave it and a week later there's more litter and before you know it there's so much litter that you realize, 'I can't do anything about this. This is a specialist problem that requires a specialist to solve.'"

Amaechi comments come after four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles revealed that she, too, had been abused by former US Gymnastics coach, Larry Nassar.

'Tennys' was the winner

It will be a day that will be burned into the memory of Tennys Sandgren.

The 26-year-old American claimed the scalp of 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka, beating the Swiss in straight sets 6-2 6-1 6-4 late on Thursday to advance to the third round.

Temperatures soared to 40-C earlier on day four in Melbourne with Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils enduring the worst conditions as commentators claimed temperatures on court were even higher, soaring to 60-C.

Six-time champion Djokovic described the heat as "brutal" after overcoming Gael Monfils in four sets.

"Really tough conditions, brutal, especially for the first hour and a half," Djokovic said.

"I was coming into the match knowing it was going to be a big challenge for both of us. Just hanging in there, trying to use every single opportunity that is presented. Obviously he [Monfils] wasn't at his best at the end of the second and the entire third set."

READ: AUS OPEN DAY FOUR REPORT

Tackling suicide

Every footballer has to cope with injury -- both short and long-term -- but for English striker Leon McKenzie it was the pain that no one could see that almost killed him.

After surviving an attempt on his own life back in 2009, the former striker turned successful pro boxer and has become a champion of talking about mental health problems.